Warning

The Wyoming High School Activities Association reversed its course on Tuesday evening and voted to allow the live webcasting of this year’s state basketball championship games and the semifinal and championship rounds of the state wrestling tournament later this month.

Dan Mortensen, six-time world saddle bronc champion and 2009 inductee into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, will return to Northwest College this spring to serve as the interim coach of the rodeo team. Mortensen takes over for Ryan Vander Pluym, who resigned on Monday, barely six months after being hired.

Mark Kitchen, vice president for college relations, indicated no reason had been provided for Vander Pluym’s resignation.

For the second time this season, a Powell Panther team seemingly down and out on the scoreboard rallied to earn a victory over the Jackson Broncs. In doing so, the team maintained its hold on a share of first place in the 3A West conference.

“We called a time out and told the kids that we needed to do something different on defense,” Panther head coach Mike Heny said, recalling a moment late in the third quarter when his team trailed 32-22. “They went out and played with a little more energy. We got some stops and it just grew from there.”

Lew Roney, a 1940 graduate of Powell High School and member of the University of Wyoming’s 1943 national championship team, will have his basketball jersey retired during a ceremony between the boys’ and girls’ basketball games with Jackson this Friday.

A banner honoring Roney will also be unveiled on the wall of the Powell High School gymnasium.

The Powell High School wrestling team is No. 1 in the latest poll released by WyoWrestling.com. The Panthers’ roster currently features 12 grapplers ranked in their respective weight classes, including four who are currently ranked No. 1 in their division.

The Park County Ice Cats youth pee wee hockey team currently sits in fourth place in the Wyoming Amateur Hockey League standings following a 2-1-1 performance this past weekend at Riley Arena in Cody. The team earned a win and a tie against Sheridan before splitting games against Douglas.

Wednesday morning, Punxsutawney Phil, that world-renowned groundhog meteorologist, was unceremoniously hauled kicking and screaming from his den in the midst of a 50-year blizzard to inform folks that he couldn’t see his shadow, couldn’t feel his toes and really just wanted to get the heck back to bed and curl up under some warm blankets.

Not coincidentally, this Sunday, my wife will emerge from her burrow in the bedroom, gaze around the corner and realize that she can’t see football on the television. She will then concur that, indeed, spring must be close at hand.

The seventh-ranked Northwest College wrestling team completed a season sweep of Western Wyoming, but came up short against a pair of nationally ranked foes over the weekend. The Trappers fell to No. 12 Iowa Lakes and No. 3 North Idaho in their final regular-season action.

The Northwest College women’s basketball team split a pair of weekend non-conference games, but may have suffered a greater loss following the injury of the team’s leading scorer. Northwest downed Central Wyoming 65-47 before falling 88-60 against Western Wyoming.